From Sea to Shining Sea
by RaelyBae
Summary: You never put much thought to these kinds of relationships. But now that you're in love with someone across the sea, you experience joy and tribulation you've never known. LongDistance!ReaderxVarious
1. Chapter 1

"Uhh..." I said, and I felt stupid immediately, mumbling rather unprofessionally and uncomfortably in front of the guy I'd grown to befriend. Honestly, even when he was grainy, he was fine. His shoulders just screamed physical activity, and all sorts of physical activity filled my thoughts. I sipped on my slushie, and all of the regret that came at the price of my whimsical and thoughtless go-with-your-gut instinct slapped me in the face, and I was still totally silent when his look of wonder turned into a smile, and I was actively staring at his lips and the way that they stretched to accommodate his perfect teeth, and I could feel my skin heat up.

This... this was _new_! I've always seen animated blushes, read about it in book and fanfiction, but was this what a blush felt like? It felt like my skin was it was under a hair dryer, and it was just so... uncomfortable. The heat, this skin tingling warmth licked down my neck, and across the the length of my collar bone, and I swore I thought it'd stop there. Blushes were on your cheeks, not across your entire body, and they certainly didn't... they didn't stoop down the nerves in your breasts, how embarrassing. Fucking. Fuckin' hot guys and their hotness.

I bit my lip, and I prayed my smile wasn't offsetting. "M... Makoto, I'm drinking a slushie." That was my genius sentence, the very first time he would associate my voice with my face, and the very first time he'd heard me say anything, it was a stuttered utterance, and an obvious statement. I laughed at myself, and I felt like I had to clarify why I was so nervous, "Man, I rushed into this so suddenly, I had no idea how shy I'd feel." My shoulders hunched a bit lower and off the screen, hesitant and thankful that the camera was so grainy, for once. I put on my make-up so haphazardly that day, only slapping on eyeliner and foundation, and the only thing to hide my lips was a thin layer of chapstick. (strike)At least they weren't chapped.(endstrike)

He giggled at me, and his chest moved up and down, and /shit/ no matter how many layers of clothes he wore, I could still make out the point of his clavicle under the stretch of fabric. I wanted to groan as I'd always done whenever he would post a new picture on his profile, because how fine he was was so devastating, it was unfair.

Other men paled in comparison to him, and it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair how when he laughed, it made me happy. It wasn't fair how he would always be polite to me, and was so respectful of me when most of the other internet guys who were messaging me were rather... forward, and went off of their own assumptions of who I was. The first thing he asked was about my dog, who I'd taken a picture of and posted it on my profile. It wasn't about America, it wasn't about speaking English, it was about me. I wouldn't have minded if he wanted me to help him with English, because I'd ask that he help me with Japanese, but I appreciated that he wanted to talk to _me, _and not someone who spoke English. (Not that I take offense to those that do.)

"What flavor?" I could hear his accent, and it was cute. I've helped him develop more of an American accent, and he's a quick study, but his accent is still cute. I hope it never goes away.

"Ichigo(Strawberry)," I said, and smiled while I said it. I'm not a chipper person, but when you're showing off how much you're learning, smiles just tend to happen. He was helping me learn so much, and it was so helpful... and it didn't help that my heart was already starting to yearn for this man. He probably had a girlfriend or is gay, as good men always are. I really didn't have any confidence that he was at all available, so I vowed to merely admire in silence.

"Yoku yattane(Good job), [Reader]."

"Arigato, Mako-Kun,"

He was shuffling papers around on his desk, and I paid no mind to it, and began to pick at the croissant I bought. I felt awkward, and he was someone I wanted so badly to impress. He was indeed my senpai, and I his kouhai. Luckily, this senpai noticed his kouhai, and I /definitely noticed him/. Maybe I should be more talkative, and less awkward.

"I'm in a Starbucks, see?" I directed camera to it's lens in the back of the phone, and I showed him the rather large bowl of coffee beans, the cash register, as well as a few customers that were too wrapped up in what they were going to order to realize that I was filming them. His shuffling didn't cease, it continue through the earbuds in my ears. "Do you guys have Starbucks over there?"

"Ah, it's Sutabakkusu in Japanese," His shuffling paused, and I directed the camera back to my face. He looked like he was writing something, maybe doing homework.

I took this time to notice things around his room, and I saw that it was indeed tidier than mine. It wasn't cluttered, and although I could only see part of his house, I assumed that his parents were similar to Makoto. Which was a complete one-eighty from how I was, and I vowed never ever to be on camera and in my room. "It's really clean, Makoto, wow."

"Nan-What?" He usually did this, began to answer in Japanese and then correct himself in English. I usually did this, and our conversations were a usual mix of Japanese and English.

"Anata no heya wa kireidesu(Your room is clean)," I said, and I prayed that I hadn't butchered the language too badly.

"Thanks, I just cleaned it."

"I wouldn't have cared if it was so dirty that a new species of bacteria grew, to be honest."

He finally looked up at me, and a light chuckle vibrated against my ears, and the bass of his voice made something tingle inside of me. This tingle also spread to places that I knew were wholly inappropriate to feel in the _middle of a cafe_.

"Kou told me to tell you that she sent you a picture of what she wanted to get for Nagisa's birthday, did you get it?" His English was better than my Japanese.

"Hai, sore wa totemo kakkuikatta(Yes, it's so cool)!" Kou had sent me a picture of the Head Spa Handpro, something that looks like long spider legs to me. There are many like those in America, but they're not very popular in America, from what I've seen. The Japanese version of that looks more inviting and cuter than the American variant.

"Wow, you're getting so good at Japanese! Pop quiz time!" He said, clapping his hand and I jolted from it's impact in my ears. Makoto's green eyes looked authoritative, and reminded me of a school teacher that was garnering the attention of elementary students. Holy shit, was the way his eyebrows furrowed together in determination cute.

Oh my god, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you, Makoto? You just can't wait until the moment where I have an actual heart attack from how cute you are, you ass. Not in a million years would these thoughts leave my lips in the form of words, hell no. Makoto was someone important to me, and I was aggravated because I wanted to coddle him in a way that just isn't a possibility, I wanna cuddle and kiss his fuckin' fine ass face, hold his hand and play with his fingers kiss his face until he blushes and play with his fuckin' hair, take him out to dinner and start a food fight, go on a nature hike in a forest with him, go to the beach and find shells with this mother fucker-

"[Name]?" Oh, well, wasn't I just articulate today. Turns out I didn't nod my head, or acknowledge he'd even said anything. Whoops.

"Uh, yeah, let's do it." Nailed it.

Makoto put a piece of paper in front of his chest-oh _god, _his chest muscles were hugged by his tightly fitted shirt, this mother fucker right here oh my gOD- that read, きれい だ。

Ki-re-i-da. I knew those characters, and when you put them together it meant-!

"M-Mak-it means...?" It meant _You are beautiful_. "Y-You are beautiful." Maybe it was just a phrase that he randomly put on. Yeah. My heart beat so fast it was frightening to me, and everything was just a thrill that I was racing on.

He shook his head, "No, _you_ are."

My breath came out unsteadily, and I put a hand in front of my mouth, "Err-th-!" I coughed, and tried to gain control of my feeble lips and the words that fled faster. "Thank you."

He held up another sign, だいすき。_I like you. _

_"_Are you-" Was this actually happening? What was going on? Myfacefeelslikeit'sonfireandIhopethisiswhatIthinkitisdamnIforgottobreathe-!

He nodded, and I noticed a hesitance in the next sign he held up, and I looked around me, embarrassed and shy, and so full of butterflies that I wished I _had_ been in the privacy of my room. Makoto was blushing just as hard as I, though his was more obvious to the naked eye-my skin color protected me from revealing how warm my skin was.

His next sign read:

がる ふれんど に なtて くれる？_Will you be my girlfriend? _


	2. Rin I

"No. Mornings are ungodly, it's so unfair that you have that amount of energy when you're _barely waking up_," I concluded, and crossed my arms thoughtfully. I'd always thought that Rin was rather hard to rouse out of sleep in the morning, since he practiced so much. "Maybe it's because sharks never sleep, or they die, so they're pretty much 100% energy all the time."

"Oh, ha, ha," He said, and got out fruits and vegetables for his morning routine. My morning routine was similar, but I'd have set my lunch out the night before. Damn, he had such graceful mornings. He could move at his own pace, he didn't leave himself only enough time to pee, eat, get dressed, and then go to uni, he just went about it at his own pace. "You're only saying that because you are so attached to your pillow in the morning."

He's seen me in the morning. One of our things were that we _had_ to be the first face we'd see in the morning, as well as the last at night. It was comforting, to know that I had him to come home to. The hurdle for me was him seeing me in the morning, without any make-up on, sluggish and sometimes hardly the woman he saw right now. Right now, it was dinner time for me, and it was breakfast time for him. His day at Tokyo University began at nine in the morning, with him going to morning swim practice with his team, and _then_ he went to class.

Mine began as every college student's did. First, I ate. Then, I took care of my hygiene—putting deodorant on, brushing my teeth, doing my hair(which I put the minimal amount of effort into, either putting it half up, putting a few braids in it since I'd styled it when I got out of the shower), and getting dressed. Then, I spent about a few minutes putting make-up on. Usually just foundation, concealer, eyeliner, a little eye shadow, and lipstick. And all the while, Rin got to witness my transformation from the Gollum to a badass motherfucker ready to get shit done.

Rin was naturally beautiful and hella fine as soon as he rolled out of bed, the bastard.

I smiled at him as he began to put his breakfast in the toaster, and gather fruits and vegetables ready for the shake he drank. He put this protein powder in, and he assured me it tasted good, but rolled my eyes. If it looks like it powder that you put on a baby's ass to stop it from getting a rash, then there was no way in hell that I'd consume it. "Your arms look hot." I said, wishing I was there to kiss him, so I could roll over in my sleep and be in his arms. His strong arms, that earlier this summer, held me tight against him.

I visited to scope out the college programs there, and I used two months out of my Temporary Visitor's Visa. Luckily, I found a marine biology program that I could understand, and I was back home packing my things and preparing for starting classes in the spring. I'd be staying in his apartment, and I already secured a job near the university.

He smiled, and his upper lip curled in this secretive way I saw when he was about to kiss me. If we were in person. My stomach tensed as the butterflies flooded my system, and I couldn't help but saying these words, I really couldn't help it. "I love you."

"Mou, aishiteru, Retasu-Chan," He was calling me what I usually ate, lettuce. He called me what I usually ate, much like I called him Hammerhead, Nursey, Bruce, Brucie, Jaws, Biter, Gilly, and other things shark related.

Whenever he said he loved me, it just felt like he was holding me again. Like I was home. His voice is like home to me. I've fallen asleep to that voice, I've woken up to that voice, I've cried with that voice, I've moaned with that voice. That voice, that boy, that _Rin_. And those arms... those arms were where I felt the happiest. I've laughed in those arms, I've reached my peak in those arms, I've slept in those arms. Those arms were _home_

"I booked my flight for next month, on the sixteenth." Rin told me to keep him updated on my move, and I did. He wanted to know where I'd be staying, what major I was going for. He said he was going to help me find a place as well as a job, so I could be independent. It wasn't that I didn't love him enough to live with him, no. It was just that I needed to be fully independent, and so I could fully enter adulthood with ease. I set up my college classes so I could ease my way in, taking one class this semester. I'd be staying with Rin for six months while I adjusted to paying bills, going to class, and working. I always had a plan. My backup plans had plans. Having plans made me feel safe, and steady.

That didn't mean I wasn't practically shittin' kittens. Oh, was I nervous. I loved my mother, and my family, and I didn't know how I'd make friends in Japan like I made friends in America. I had to worry about culturally fitting in, and not being a typical _gaijin_, or foreigner. I'm vegan, by necessity, how the hell was I going to eat? I am on prescription medication for anxiety, attention deficit, and mild depression. I was currently in recovery, how the hell was I going to handle stress and not relapse? What could I do about my therapist, who I needed? Would he be able to do Skype appointments? My psychiatrist could. When would I get free time to make these appointments?

There was a lot I had to worry about. "Oi, daijoubu. It'll be fine." He was frowning at my brooding, and I'd missed his response.

Ugh, crap. "I'm sorry, it's just… so, so much to do." A familiar tense wedged between my shoulder blades, and I knew that I didn't wanna carry this into his morning.

"No, don't be sorry. If it's stressing you out, you can come to me, alright?" I don't even know how he did this, where he turned a question into an undeniable demand. It sounded like it came from someone who had authority over me, not someone who held my heart in his hands.

Still, this smile of mine couldn't help but spread, and the love that he communicated without actually being here, only looking intently into a screen at a girl thousands of miles from him couldn't help but permeate into the tense muscles of my shoulders, and eased them into a lax slump. I am convinced he was magic, and that every fiber and tissue in his body was constructed by sorcery or some divine being. People like him didn't exist. Not the ones that had a future they're striving towards, a successful plan for the future, even. They didn't usually come with the full package. But he did, and I have no idea where I found this fantastic bowl of shark-lovin'.

Oh. Oh yeah. That's right. In the deep blue sea.


End file.
